


Purple Ghost

by Bluethenstaub



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Ronan is a dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2018-04-01 21:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4035529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluethenstaub/pseuds/Bluethenstaub
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter knew that something wasn't right when he started to hear a voice in his head. But when he found out that it was the voice of Ronan the Accuser, who should be long dead, he was sure that he had a big problem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Something good, something bad

It had been almost two month since the day everyone learned Star-Lord’s name. Kinda everyone. Okay, at least some people had learned it on the day Peter Quill saved the universe with his superb dancing moves. After all that had been the moment Rocket needed to repair the Haldron Enforcer. Drax had used it than to shoot the Infinity Stone out of Ronan’s hammer. The Guardians of the Galaxy saved the day!  And the galaxy. Like their name implied. Hell yeah. The name says it all.

For now they were sitting in a shabby pub on a small planet full of shady people. Okay, maybe the Guardians were among the shadier of these people. Especially Gamora. Gamora, the deadliest woman in the universe, who became Peter’s best friend since the day they’ve met. That was also the day Peter almost beat her in a fight. In this case 'almost' means that he had a little chance, because Rocket and Groot had ‘helped’ him. Gamora had been pretty shocked in the end. Literally. They had their differences in the beginning, but they got over them. She also started dancing recently! Probably no one else on this planet did dance, except for him, Gamora and the little Groot.

Peter ordered a new drink. He told himself not to drink too much. It’s not like he wanted to fly tonight, oh no. He was long over flying drunk, since he once got caught and arrested for it. But that was a long time ago. Now he had a clean slate. He didn’t want to change that in the nearest future. And someone had to watch after his friends after all. When Drax and Rocket were drunk, they were explosive. Gamora could drink more than both of them together, but even she got violently drunk from time to time. She stilled was a bit depressed, because of the whole thing with her sister. Unlike Peter Nebula had refused Gamora’s hand in need and fell out of the Dark Aster. And Groot, little Groot in his flower pot, was unfortunately no big help at all.

So it was Peter’s responsibility to look after them. A drink or five were okay for Peter. Hell, he could even have a quickie in the toilette stall as long as he came back to the pub and his friends. But no sex tonight. Peter’s eyes scanned around. No, no one here who was so attractive that he’d consider it. Gamora was the best card here. But she was a big no. The biggest no in the universe. No pelvic sorcery. She had made her point in this more than clear. That was a thing Peter actually had learned for once. Just BFF, no friends with benefits. Maybe someday he’d be able to make her understand that it’s totally normal for friends to cuddle from time to time. Peter smiled of the thought. ‘An assassin does not cuddle’, yes, that will be her answer for a long time. But he’ll take it slow, and one day said assassin will cuddle with him.

That Kree guy over there was looking nice, though. Blue was a very pleasant colour in Peter’s eyes. But sex with a Kree... Never again a Kree, he had decided. Peter has had two big encounters with his life with these guys. Both ended pretty bloody for him. The first one was with a young Kree girl he once met in a pub, not unlike this one. They shared some really, really nice nights together. But that ended abruptly when she tried to rip out his thorax, because she got jealous of an A'askvariian girl. The Kree girl almost succeeded – thank God she didn’t! They broke up and the A’askvariian girl took care of him and ‘nursed’ him. The other Kree encounter was with Ronan the Accuser when Peter saved Xandar, and the whole universe by dancing. Star-Lord – saviour of the universe. That doesn’t sound bad. Peter had never seen a person more confused. Kree or not. It was hilarious. Peter chuckled by the thought of Ronan’s trembling lower lip.

 _Nonsense_.

“What?”

Gamora turned her head towards Peter. “I didn’t say anything.”

“No, you didn’t. It was some guy.” Peter look around, but couldn’t see anyone who was expecting an answer. “That dude said ‘nonsense.’”

Gamora’s face showed confusion and concern. “No one said anything at all, Peter.”

“Didn’t?” Another look at the people in the room. “Anyone here who’s able to speak telekinetically? Doesn’t look like it, does it?”

“No”, Gamora answered. “You’re sure you didn’t imagine it? Or think it yourself?”

“I’m pretty sure. I just thought about Ronan’s face when-“

_Not another word!_

“... When I started to dance before of him. And there it was again. ‘Not another word’ this time. Do you think I’m going mad?”

“...” Gamora laid a hand on Peter’s and smiled a bit. “No, Peter. You’re not going mad. You are a bit crazy, but it’s a good kind of crazy, which forms your character and your personal charm. Not mad. ... Maybe it’s the fault of the drink?”

“Yes. It has to be the drink”, Peter nodded and lowered his voice. “You never know what they mix in them, believe me. Especially when the bartender has more than two arms. And ours has more than two!” Four to be exact. Two arms with normal hands and two which resembled tentacles with suckers. Gross. No need to panic. Everything’s fine. He’s not going mad, neither does he have some head illness like his mother had once. It’s just the alcohol. And some drugs or something. He’s going to drink something without alcohol for the rest of the night. Everything will be fine. Peter forced himself to smile. “You’re right. No need to worry. It’s not like this is going to have a big impact on my life. Next week that voice will be long forgotten. And now, what do you thing. Who will be drunk first? Rocket or Drax..?”


	2. The voice

“It’s your own fault your head hurts. No one forced you to drink so much.”

“Yeah, yeah. Shut up, Quill, and give me some medicine.”

“Ah, sure.” Peter threw the pill towards the raccoon-like creature. “What else do you want? Shall I wear a short dress? Make you some food? Brush your tail?”

“I said shut up”, Rocket growled and reached for the cup Peter gave him. “Where’s the muscular one?”

“Still sleeping. I couldn’t bring myself to wake him up.” Actually it was a rather dangerous task to wake Drax up. It could cost you some limbs. Peter had just taken a short peek – Drax was sleeping on his back, hands folded over the stomach, mouth wide open, some salvia running over his cheek – before he continued his waking up trip to Rocket’s and Groot’s corner. “I’m going to Gamora. Meet me there when you’re ready.”

“Yeah, sure. Leave me alone.”

“You’re not alone, you’ve got Groot with you”, Peter answered before he left the kitchen and went to the room where Gamora was waiting for him. “Rocket and Groot are coming, but they need a moment. Rocket’s rather grumpy today. Drax’s still sleeping.”

“And you?” Gamora tilted her head a bit and looked at him slightly concerned. “You’re good?”

“I feel as good as a baby. And equally healthy. More intelligent, though.”

“Funny, Peter. I’m asking about the voice”, she sighed.

“... No voice, no problem.” To be honest Peter had almost forgotten about the strange voice from yesterday. Thank you, Gamora, for reminding him. “Everything is fine. Really.”

Gamora still looked at him. Was that pity in her eyes? Or just concern? “But, Peter-“

“No but. Please. I’m pretty sure you were right. It was all the fault of the drink. After the two times I’ve heard it, everything was quiet. Let’s drop the subject.”

“What subject?”

“You’re already here, Rocket? That was fast. Good. And no subject, since we just dropped it.”

“Whatever. Now, why are we here?” Rocket asked. Of course he has brought Groot with him.

“We want to discuss what we’re going to do next”, Gamora replied.

“Good old plans. Because our plans always work.”

“Hey!”

“No offense, Quill. I really meant that. Sometimes we just have to improvise a bit,” Rocket snickered.

“Sometimes? Always.” Peter rolled his eyes. They had to improvise when they tried to break out of the Kyln; they had to improvise against Ronan.

_Shut up._

_Ah, hello, voice._ After their glorious victory against Ronan-

_I said shut up!_

... and when they improvised to save beautiful and wonderful Xandar, they improvised all the time.

The voice snorted.

“Is there a special place one of you wants to visit?” Peter asked his friends.

While Gamora shook her head, Rocket nodded. “Yes.”

Peter blinked. “Really? No kidding?”

“I’m dead serious, Quill. I want to go to La’Rez. Need to pick up some stuff I’ve ordered ages ago.”

“What kind of stuff?” How many bombs would Rocket be able to build?

“Oh, you know. Stuff I need. Stuff to build bigger and better stuff. Weapons and such things.”

Of course. “And the weapons on my ship are not good enough?”

“No.”

Peter let out a dramatically gasp.

“Come on! You know that your weapons are shit since they didn’t give us any when we flew away from Xandar. No illegal stuff. Behave. Be good.”

“He has a point”, Gamora tossed in.

“I know, guys!”

_That’s Xandar, self-proclaimed peace bringer, for you._

Peter couldn’t even find an argument against that. “Alright, let’s get your stuff.”

“Quill, my man, I think I’ve ordered some nice new babies for you. Kree-forged. I’ll pimp them a bit. You’re gonna love them!”

“I don’t doubt that.” He smiled. It wasn’t easy to deny that Rocket really knew what he talked about when it’s about weapons.

_Kree weapons are wasted on a puny Terran like you._

_Shut up, voice._

_Don’t give me orders, Star-Lord._

“Rocket, you fly.” The voice really started to annoy Peter.

“Alright, Quill. I’ll tell you when we’re there. After all it’s pretty close.” Rocket took sleeping Groot’s pot. “See you later.” He left the room and went into the cockpit.

Gamora stood up. “I’m going to train a bit. Want to come with me?”

“Well... You know, I think I won’t. Not now and not today. I’ll pass.” He already had enough bruises from the one time he trained with her three days ago. He didn’t need more. Life as a Terran was hard.

Gamora smiled, knowing Peter’s reason. “You’ve made that more than clear. What are you going to do?”

“Read the news, probably.” Try to find something out about the voice. Peter had an assumption about the owner of the voice. But actually that should be impossible. Dead people don’t talk. Not even dead Kree. Peter turned on one of the screens and sat down. “At least one of us has to be informed about the stuff that’s going on in the universe.”

“Says the guy who didn’t know who I am before Rocket told him”, Gamora smiled while leaving the room.

“Oh, I totally knew who you are...” A lie. He already confessed this in the Kyln. Peter switched to a news channel. News about Xandar. Nice timing. Xandar’s capital had to suffer a lot, because of Ronan’s attack. Ronan had been a really drama queen. He had tried to fly down on the planet with his big ass ship, just to hold a big and long speech, after which he wanted to ram his hammer on the planet to kill every living thing. Probably in slow motion. Worst plan ever.

_What?_

It would have been way better if he took one of his Necrocrafts, flew to a sweet place on Xandar’s countryside, and simply put his hammer on the surface without any big words. No big drama, but success.

_Xandar ought to suffered for what it had done._

_Ah, shut up, Ronan. You killed as much of Xandar’s families as they killed Kree families,_ Peter though.

_We didn’t start the war._

_You did, according to them._

_Lies._

_Whatever. But tell me one thing. Why can I hear your voice?_

_... I have no idea._

_Well, shit. I’ll find an answer. And as long as I just hear you and you’re not too much of an asshole, it can be quite fun!_ He could hear Ronan snort again. _Now shut up. I really want to watch the news._ Ronan really said nothing more. Nice! The newsman talked about the rebuilding of Xandar’s capital. Actually it was really boring. They didn’t even mention him and his friends anymore. Okay, he doesn’t have to do anything with the rebuilding, but a little mention or two would have been nice.

_This is exactly how Xandar does its politics, Star-Lord. They have associates, they help each other, but the one who gets all the glory is Xandar itself. They have done this all the time since they started to expand and bring ‘peace’ to other planets. They invaded planets to save them, even though they just wanted to have some resources. Xandar and the Nova are cruel._

_And still you Kree signed a peace treaty recently._

_Our emperor did. He doesn’t have his people behind him._

_I know. I’ve heard the news. Chaos and street fights on Hala. Even if you think the opposite, I’m not an idiot, Ronan. Okay, I’m an idiot. But not such a big idiot._

_An idiot and a naive child._

_Oh, thanks. You’re really charming. I’m almost blushing!_

_... This is not funny, Star-Lord._

_Hey, there’re your people!_ The news were just finished with Xandar for now, and started to talk about Hala and the situation on the planet. There were still many street fights. Meanwhile the Kree politicians were not happy about Ronan either. They had closed their eyes on him, but after he failed, they officially stated that Ronan was wrong the whole time. Wow. They really have done that. What an ass-move. Peter bit the inner side of his cheek and looked the way Ronan’s voice came from the whole time.

The Kree was quiet right now, probably because of anger. But what Peter saw made him stop breathing for a moment. There was a soft purple glow where Peter expected him to stand. Shit. He chuckled nervously. “Maybe I should do something else!” Quickly he turned off the screen and flew the room.


	3. Panic

“Gamora!” Peter ran into the training room. It wasn’t so much of a real training room, but more like the biggest room on the ship they didn’t use otherwise. Gamora and Drax had put the boxes at the walls, so they had enough room to move. “Gamora, I have a reaaaaally big and urgent problem. Super giant sized problem.” He entered the room where he saw Gamora sitting on the floor, meditating.

“Sit down and tell me about your problem.”

Peter sat across her. “My problem is blue. Was blue. He isn’t anymore. Now he’s more invisible.” Gamora looked at him in confusion. “Alright.” He took a big breath. “From the beginning. You remember the voice I’ve heard yesterday.”

A slow nod.

“It wasn’t someone who’s able to talk telepathically. Kinda was, but not in the way we’ve meant it. Today I’ve started to hear it again. When I thought about the dance-off. Yesterday it was when I was checking out that one Kree guy in the bar – hey, sorry, I know, Kree’s are evil, but hot. You have to admit that!” Gamora didn’t look like she’d ever find a Kree attractive. “... Well, today I’ve talked to the voice a bit and figured out that it is – hold your hat! - Ronan’s voice.” He had decided that he’d not her about the strange glow he saw.

Gamora looked at him really concerned. “Ronan’s dead, Peter. You know that. We’ve killed him with the help of the Stone.”

“Yes, but it’s still his voice. All deep and dark and stuff.” Peter started to massage his temples. “I guess you were wrong yesterday. Maybe I am getting mad.” He felt like he was going to cry. Or maybe it wasn’t madness. Maybe it was something worse. Something that had already been his mother’s doom. “It’s brain cancer”, Peter whispered. “It has to be. Why else would I hear voices of dead people?”

“I don’t think hearing voices is a symptom of brain cancer.”

“But-“

“No, Peter.” Gamora came close and pulled him into a hug. “Everything will be alright. No need to panic. We’re going to La’Rez, and while Rocket gets his weapons, we two go and visit a doctor. Don’t worry, Peter. Even if they should find something – which I highly doubt to be honest – we’re not on Terra. The medical care is better than the one on Terra back in your days.” Her hand moved slowly in circles across his back. Peter felt like a little child again in his mother’s arms, weak and vulnerable. But it felt good to have someone to hug him.

They sat like this for a moment, and Peter started to feel better. He didn’t even start to cry thanks to Gamora’s help.

“Hey, Gamora...”

“Yes, Peter?”

“I think I go and sleep a bit.”

“Yes”, Gamora replied and stroked Peter’s hair a bit. “I’ll wake you up when we’re at La’Rez.”

“Thanks.”

Gamora let Peter go and he stood up. “Sleep well, Peter.”

“Thanks. You have fun with your training. And don’t worry about me too much.“ Peter left the training room and went into the bathroom. He really needed to wash his eyes. _They are almost as red as my Ravagers outfits,_ Peter thought. _Also: fuck you, Ronan._

_..._

No answer. Good.

_I pity you, Star-Lord._

_Oh, come on! I just said that it’s a good thing that you’re quiet!_

_You’re weak. Even for a Terran._

_What do you know about Terrans? Shut up! You’re in no position to talk to me. First of all, you’re dead! Second, you’re just in my imagination. And third, I confused you with my dancing._

_This has nothing to do with your weird spasms._

_Dancing. And yes, it does._

_..._

Peter splashed some water into his face and left the bathroom. _Who cares about Ronan anyway? Probably not even his own people._ He went into his bedroom and undressed. _Just stop thinking about it, Peter. Sleep._ He laid down on his bed, closed his eyes and tried not to think of anything that could trigger Ronan to start talking again.

 

“Peter, wake up.”

He opened his eyes immediately. He had learnt to wake up fast after he came to Yondu’s crew. As a child he had loved to sleep deep and long. But when there was the constant thread to get eaten, Peter adjusted his sleeping habits quickly. Waking up when someone said his name or when heavy steps come into a room was no problem for him. That’s why he woke up now when Gamora softly called him.

“Are we there yet?”

“Almost”, Gamora replied. “No more than 30 minutes. You have enough time to get ready.”

“Thanks. I bet I look horrible”, Peter smiled.

“You don’t. Not more than any other day.”

“Gamora, you’re a real friend.” Peter sat up. “Now: shoo! I need to get dressed.”

Gamora laughed. “I don’t think you’d have a problem with me seeing you.”

“You’re right.”

She smiled once again before leaving the room. Peter got out of his bed and started to get dressed. Finally he took his walkman and put it on his belt. Oh well. It’s going to be a good day, so why shouldn’t he start it with some dancing? Dancing makes everything better!

_No!_

Everything! He put his headphones on and started to dance, totally ignoring Ronan’s complaining. Peter didn’t dance too long, only one song, Magic by Pilot. Only the best days start with dancing to a funky song like this. After his little dance session and a short visit to the bathroom Peter went into the cockpit where all the other guys were already assembled.

 

Not too long after they’ve landed on La’Rez Drax, Rocket, and Groot went one way to pick up Rocket’s orders and to buy some groceries for their next trip. Peter and Gamora on the other hand went to look for a doctor. After they’ve searched for a while, and finally _asked_ someone, they found one in a little brown house. Without too many complications – they just had to pay a bunch of money – they sat down in a little room full of stuff. It looked more like a storeroom than a waiting room. On the other side of the room sat a big, pink... guy. Peter didn’t know which planet that guy came from.

_He’s a Plorian. Most likely an outcast._

_How do you know?_

_Simple education. But that’s a thing you lack._

_Complains about this matter go directly to Yondu._ Peter looked at the guy. _What else can you tell me about him?_

_Nothing. Even if I could, I wouldn’t. I have no interest in conversations with you._

_That’s a shame. But well, you’re right, probably. It’s better if we don’t talk. After all you’re just in my imagination._

_You really think that?_

_For a guy who doesn’t want to talk to me, you talk quite a lot._ To be honest Peter wasn’t sure what he should think. That’s why he started to panic when he saw the glow. He hadn’t seen it when he talked to Gamora, but afterwards it was there all the time. It wasn’t strong, but pretty subtle. Like it was made for the darkness. Like a night light for a little child. But it was big, bigger than Peter. He was able to pass through, he had found that out when he was dancing earlier.

After the Plorian left, Peter put the volume of his walkman on maximum, and he and Gamora listened to it. Good old Awesome Mix No. 1. His oldest and truest friend. With the music it didn’t take too long until he and Gamora were allowed to enter the doctor’s office. It was better when she came with him, they had decided. Peter wasn’t sure if he could tell her if it really was something serious.

The doctor looked from Peter to Gamora, and back. “She’s pregnant?” he asked with a serious voice.

“No!” they shouted in unison.

“Good for you. I don’t do abortions. What do you want?”

“I want to get checked. My body. Especially my head.”

The doctor looked at Peter from head to toe. “You look pretty healthy for a Xandarian.”

“But I’m neither Xandarian, nor I do feel healthy.”

“Not Xandarian?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “No. I’m Terran. There are some differences. And not only the blood colour.”

“Take off your shirt and sit down.”

The doctor went to a cupboard, while Peter took off his shirt and sat down. He looked at Gamora, new found panic in his eyes. He felt as helpless as he last felt right after Yondu abducted him.

_You’re mentally really weak, Star-Lord._

Yeah. A mental doctor was someone he should visit next if this one doesn’t find anything.

_If you would, he’d institutionalize you right away._

The healer came to Peter and held a device in front of him. “Try not to move.”

“Sure”, Peter replied. “I’m as unmoving as a column.”

Slowly the healer began to scan Peter’s body, beginning with the head. Peter closed his eyes. The scanner tickled on his skin.

“According to the scanner you’re perfectly healthy. Shall I still check you manually?”

“Yes, please.”

So the healer started to check Peter’s body, eyes, mouth, ears, skin, everything. Gamora even had to turn around for a moment. (She didn’t have to, but she did it anyways.) Nevertheless he claimed that he found nothing unnatural. “You’re in perfect health, especially for a Terran.”

“Really?”

“Do you want to be ill that badly?”

“What? No, of course I don’t”, Peter answered while he got dressed. He just wanted to find a reason for hearing and – more or less – seeing Ronan. And he also wanted to find a way to get him out of his head. There are things Peter didn’t want Ronan to see. Himself sitting on the toilet, for example.

“I can only say it again; you’re in perfect health, Mr. Quill.”

“Thank you. Even my brain?”

“Yes, especially your brain”, the healer sighed. Even he just earned a bunch of money for doing nothing, Peter started to annoy him. “If you’d now accompany me, I’d like to show you the exit." He went through a door – not the one Peter and Gamora had used to enter the doctor’s office. They followed him through a long hallway before leaving the house. “It was a pleasure to meet you.” Yeah, easy earned money. “Feel free to visit me again.”

“We will”, Gamora said when she took Peter’s arm and started to go back to the Milano.

 

“Peter...”

He quietly shook his head, because he didn’t want to talk right now.

Gamora understood, and stayed silent.

“I’m going back to bed.”

“Sure. Sleep well, Peter.”

“Thanks.” Peter could feel Gamora’s eyes on his back as he went to his bedroom where he took off his jacket and boots, sat down on the bed, and stared into nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Magic by Pilot is totally on the Awesome Mix, because of  
> [this post here](http://jamesgunn.tumblr.com/post/105541374232/)


	4. Ronan

Hours have passed since Peter and Gamora came back from the healer. Rocket, Groot, and Drax have been back too, and now they were back into deep space. Rocket brought Peter some sweets, but he hadn’t seen anyone after that. He did neither touch the sweets, nor do anything else. Peter just sat in his room, not thinking at all.

Ronan stayed quiet too, even Peter was able to see him. More or less. He was still only some purple glow. But somehow the glow started to form a figure. Which was not good. Peter knew he had to do something. Since he wasn’t physically ill, maybe he could somehow arrange to live with Ronan in his head.

_Why are you not dead?_

_I have no idea. Obviously I was destroyed by the orb, but at one point I was there again. Without a body, but next to you. I just remember you shooting the Orb at me, and my whole body burning, in the next moment I stand next to you, while you’re in the kitchen, preparing dinner. At that point you weren’t able to hear me yet, that started only recently. And I want to give the question back to you. Why are you not dead yet, Star-Lord? You’re Terran; you shouldn’t have been able to touch the Orb for such a long time without dying._

_Hey, I’m awesome! You should have learned that by now!_

_The only thing I’ve learned about you is the fact that you’re a charming idiot._

_Aww, you think I’m charming. Sorry, but I don’t think it would have worked with us. You’re way too conservative; I’m more into free thinking people._

_... I’ve meant you’re an idiot who is able to find many sexual partners._

_Sure, honey,_ Peter grinned.

 _Honey!?_ While the purple glow had been calm before, it started to pulse now. Seems like Ronan was pretty angry. No pet names, Peter took notice.

_Calm your tits, Ronan._

_I’m not a female, I don’t have those things you call “tits.”_

_That’s just a way of speaking. No need to get angry. Calm down, please._

_I won’t calm down!_

_Please, try it at least._ Peter looked at the glow. It really seemed to calm down. _To answer your question how I was able to hold the Orb for so long, apparently I’m only half Terran. My father was something else, even the Nova doesn’t know what exactly. Something pretty old, they say. An angel composed of pure light, my mom always said. Rings any bells?_

 _No. So you’re not only Terran, but also a hybrid._ Ronan sounded really disgusted.

_I don’t see your problem here. There are many people who aren’t just part of one race._

_Oh, Mr. Kree is too high and mighty to talk to me now. What are you? A three years old child?_ “Hey, where are you going?” He accidentally said the last words loud as the glow started to move away from Peter. Ronan really was a pouty child. Peter had to laugh, what made the glow pulse again. He could totally picture Ronan, arms crossed, facing the wall, because he didn’t want to look at him. Because he was such a disgusting hybrid.

That whole situation reminded Peter of himself, long time ago, shortly after Yondu had abducted him. Yondu had tried to make Peter do something useful on the ship, like washing the guys underwear or polishing the ships. Peter didn’t want to do it, so he had started to pout in his room. Yondu was not amused. He should have been at least happy, that Peter didn’t cry anymore at this point. In the end all the pouting didn’t help Peter, and he had to start working on the Eclector – or else he would have been eaten.

But he totally couldn’t threat Ronan with that. First of all, because he was still dead. And secondly, a living Ronan would rather eat Peter than the other way round.

Peter took a screen that ways lying under his bed. It was always better to have one around, or there was none when you really need one to save your life. Right now he didn’t need it to save his life, but he had decided on one thing. If he had to live together with that pissed off Kree, he had to know something about the Kree. He could ask Gamora, after all she lived for some time with him on the Dark Aster, but he would do that later. Now he wanted to do that just for himself, without anyone finding out, especially not Ronan. It could be quite nice to know stuff about people, they don’t know you know. Peter guessed it couldn’t be too hard to find information about a Kree who was so important – or who least behaved as if he was important.

He searched for “Ronan the Accuser” – and promptly found something about him:

 _“Ronan the Accuser, Son of Berach the Accuser. Supreme Accuser of the Kree Empire. Born-“_ Holy shit, he was already over 300 years old? Peter was never able to get the hold of long living creatures – at least longer living than Terrans. “ _He had fought in the Kree-Xandarian war for many years, killed many Xandarians when he was an important war lord. After the peace treaty he continued to fight against Xandar. For this the teamed up with Thanos, the mad Titan, but in the end got killed by Sun-Lord-“_ “Ah, come on!” _“-and the Galaxy Guardians.”_ “Who the fuck is allowed to write this shit?” Peter mumbled to himself. Sun-Lord and the Galaxy Guardians!

Sulking he continued to look for information about “his” Kree. In the end, he out many things, but other things were still unknown to Peter. “Have you been married?”

Silence.

“I take this as a no. Too busy? Not interested in women?”

Still no answer.

Peter looked around. Oh. The mighty glow wasn’t even in the room. No wonder he got no answer. Peter got up, and left his room, looking for Ronan. He knew, Ronan wasn’t able to do anything without a body, but it was still better to know what he was up to.

The Kree was sitting next to Gamora in the training room. Or was he standing? It was hard to tell.

“Hey, there you are! I was looking for you!” Peter said to Gamora as he sat across her.

“What troubles you? Is it Ronan again?”

“It’s always Ronan these days. I’ve asked myself if you could tell me something about him.”

Gamora raised her brows. “Sure, what do you want to know?”

_Nothing. You don’t want to ask anything. I am none of your concern._

Peter ignored Ronan. “Theoretically everything. But you don’t need to tell me everything. Tell me about the first time you’ve met him.”

“It was in the Sanctuary. He was standing before the throne of my father, talking to the Other who says what Thanos has to say.”

_Said. I’ve killed that creature._

“Nebula and I just came back from a mission. We were immediately sent with Ronan to kill the people of a planet for Thanos.” She made a face. “It was a test for Ronan to proof if he was worthy to be an ally. He succeeded obviously. Nebula and I stayed with him, having high ranks on his ship. He needed us, because he was rather... passive. He expected his soldiers to work even without telling them what to do. That was mostly Nebula’s and my job, while he was in his private rooms with his monks, killing Xandarians and Nova people for his sick rituals.”

_These rituals are part of my culture!_

“Sometimes he trained Nebula and me.”

_Not for good as it seems._

“Thanos wasn’t happy with him. Ronan was too insubordinate for him.

_. . ._

“He always placed the Kree Empire first, not his alliance with Thanos.

_Of course I did!_

“Thanos thought, Ronan was like a little child, trying to save his sand castle before the flood.”

 _What?!_ Obviously Ronan wasn’t happy to hear this _. I should have killed Thanos, before I went to Xandar!_ No, totally not happy. The glowing figure started to pulse and to solidify.

“Thanos sounds like the biggest asshole in the universe”, Peter mumbled. “First he wants you, and then he talks shit about you.”

“Thanos is an egotistical creature, hull of himself. He respects only himself and Death”, Gamora nodded.

“Mmh.” Peter was still concentrated on the gloving Ronan. He was more Ronan than glowing right now, becoming more and more like himself with any moment. He was still purple, but stated to look like the Kree he was. Naked Kree. Holy cow. Kree were beautiful creatures, Peter had to admit. The war paint and the heavy amour were pretty unflattering. “I think I’ve heard enough for now”, Peter said and leaned over to Gamora. “Ronan listened, and he isn’t too happy about what he had to hear”, he whispered. “Don’t want him to become too angry.”

Gamora nodded softly, while Peter stood up. _I’m going to my room, Ronan come with me._

_“Don’t give me orders, Star-Lord”._

_Will you come with me, my dearest Ronan?_

Ronan glared at him darkly, but stood up. “ _Not because you tell me to, but because I don’t want to stay in his room anymore.”_

 _I don’t care about your reasons, as long as you come with me_. He left the room, followed by Ronan. _Did you realize it?_

_“That I have a body again? Yes. That I can kill you now every moment? Yes.”_

_Will you do it? Kill me?_

Ronan said nothing.

 _I take that as a no._ Peter sat down on his bed.

_“I won’t be too sure, Quill.”_

_You’re in my head, Ronan. If I should die, you’ll die too_ , Peter replied.

 _“We’ll see.”_ Ronan came to Peter and grabbed his throat. Or at least he tried to. Instead his hand passed through Peter.

Peter’s heart had stopped to beat for a short moment of shock. He let out a relieved sigh. “Seems like you won’t kill me, that’s for sure...”

Ronan didn’t look happy about that.


	5. To Knowhere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm the slowest writer ever and I'm very sorry for that

“Rocket, I have to admit something. You’re the best when it comes to weapons.”

“Oh, I know. No need to thank me. Pay me back by saving my life with these babies one day,” Rocket said proudly. Like he had promised, he got some new guns for Peter on La’Rez. But they turned out to be worse than expected. Rocket didn’t let that happen, he just took Peter’s old blasters and the new ones, and combined them. They still looked the same and had the same size, but were now able to do so much more than to shoot electricity or normal blasts.

“Let me repay you right now.”

“What? Quill! No! Stop that!” It was too late, Peter had already pressed a kiss between the not-raccoon’s ears. “You’re so disgusting,” he grunted.

Groot chirped in amusement.

“Don’t you dare to say such things, young man! That’s a lie and no one will believe you!”

_“Your furry friend is right, Quill. You are disgusting.”_ Ronan leaned against a wall and was watching the whole scene. His temper had gotten better these last days. He had stopped getting angry about everything Peter did. Instead he just told him how disgusting he was. Or despicable. Or something else. Never something good, compliments were not in his nature. After the first ten times Peter had decided to ignore it and not to answer him anymore, he grew tired of Ronan.

When the Kree’s mood started to stabilize, he stopped to change. Ronan looked like a normal, but naked Kree right now. He was just a bit more purple. And, of course, invisible to anyone but Peter. They had tried to put some clothes on him. It would be funny for the others, Peter had thought, to see only some clothes wandering around, but Ronan wasn’t able to wear or to hold them, they would just fall down on the floor.

Except for the snarky side comments, Ronan wasn’t that bad of a guy. Yeah, there was a stick deeper in his butt than in Gamora’s, but he was good to talk to. He knew a hell-lot of things since he was already pretty old. But Peter had learned so much from him...! Okay, mostly about Hala and the Kree, but if you were interested, that was a really nice topic. And Peter was interested. Best thing about space was to learn about all the other races, that were out there, and how different they were from Terrans. (And to learn if they were sexually compatible.) Kree weren’t actually that different from Terrans. Both were proud, they loved their families, and they lived mostly monogamous. Ronan had also told him that the Kree have been on Terra once before, thousands of years ago, to make some experiments with the early Terrans. Ronan had no idea what kind of experiments these were, he never cared about that, but whatever the Kree tried to do didn’t work – so they left and stopped caring about Terra.

Peter took his new-old guns and left the room – just to bump into Gamora. Instinctively he put his arms around her.

“Peter, don’t.”

“Sorry.” He left his arms where they were and smiled at her. “You were looking for me?”

“Actually yes, I was. We need to talk. I had an idea I want to share with you. Alone.” She lowered her voice. “Just the three of us. Meet me in your room.” She peeled herself out of Peter’s arms and left.

_He, Ronan, did you hear that?_

_“No.”_ The Kree left the room and came to Peter. “ _What did I miss?”_

_Gamora’s going to fulfil our dreams. We’re having a threesome! Right now in my room, come on!_ Peter thought and went after Gamora.

Ronan could only shake his head. _“That’s impossible.”_

_What?_ Peter hummed happily.

_“A threesome.”_

_That’s only you fault, buddy. She still wants to speak to us._

_“I’m not your buddy,”_ Ronan grumbled.

 

Gamora was sitting on Peter’s bed.

_What did I tell you?_

_“...”_

“So, Gamora, what’s the matter? Why do you need to talk to us so badly?” Peter let himself

sink next to her.

“I was thinking-“

“Thinking is good. It always helps to do that!”

_“Maybe you should start to think too. Especially before you speak.”_

Gamora rolled her eyes. “I was thinking about the whole situation between you and Ronan.”

“Oh, important thinking...”

_“That’s a thing you should start for sure.”_

“I’m listening...”

“I tried to find you what you two have in common. Why his... spirit get attached to you.”

“Well, I killed him. Maybe he’s a poltergeist who decided to haunt me. He’s doing a bad job, though...” _Being naked doesn’t scare me. On the contrary, to be honest._

_“What’s a poltergeist?”_ Ronan looked at him in confusion.

_I’ll tell you later._

“Yes, you killed him. That was my first thought, too. But I doubt that he’s some kind of... spirit haunting you. And why only you? We helped to kill him. Also, Ronan would know about that. So I tried to think further. What did you do, that we didn’t, but he did. And the answer was simple. You both had direct contact with the Infinity Stone. You both held it.”

Peter and Ronan starred at Gamora. They had tried to find an answer for quite some time, but neither of them thought of the Stone. Ronan was so angry about this that he started to pout.

“Well, that would explain a lot. Especially the reason why Ronan’s purple...”

“He’s purple...”

“Yeeees. Now that you say it, it’s more than obvious.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that he’s purple? We could have figured it out long time ago!”

“I forgot to mention it!”

“Peter Quill!” she growled.

“I’m sorry! I just forgot!”

Gamora sighed. “We have two options now. Either we go to Morag and try to find out if there’s something written-“

“Impossible,” Peter interrupted.

“Why?”

“The only reason I was able to pick up the Orb on Morag was, because it wasn’t flooded for the first time in 400 years. The next time without water should be in...”

_“In 512 years.”_

“Right. In 512 years. We could maybe send Ronan down there...”

_“No.”_

“But he doesn’t want to.”

“You guys work pretty well together,” Gamora said.

“Nah. We just made peace for now.”

“Still, for Ronan’s standards, who never shares his thoughts with anyone, and who prefers to work alone, you are working well together. Either way, I’m going into the cockpit.” She stood up and went to the door.

“Hey, you didn’t tell me the other option!”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Gamora turned her head and smiled. “We’re going to visit the only being – except Thanos – we know who knows about the Infinity Stones. We’re going to visit the Collector.”

Peter shared her smile as she left. The Collector. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to visit that guy. Yeah, apparently he knew some stuff about the Infinity Stones and such things. But they had blown up his collection. Well, his assistant... slave... servant Carina did. But the Guardians had brought the Stone to him. So maybe he’d blame them for it? And if not for this, Drax had called Ronan, and he left some chaos on Knowhere too. They also had taken the Stone with them again, instead of selling it to him. If it was Peter, he’d totally blame them.

“Did you see the Collector’s girl?”

_“Who?”_

“The servant of the Collector. She grabbed the Stone when we were there and exploded right before you arrived.”

_“Ah.”_ Ronan nodded. _“I’ve seen the explosion.”_

“Yeah, it was a big spectacle. Especially good if you had a seat in the first row.”

_“I didn’t see her. But as you know, I didn’t spend much time alive after I first touched the Stone. You’ve only seen me after some months, and after I got angry enough to manifest myself. She had no reason to manifest at all.”_

“Right,” Peter grinned. “You’re just here, because you’re a moody asshole.”

_“...”_

Peter looked at Ronan. “You know, if the Collector should know a... cure or something, I think we should do it.”

_“... That goes without a saying, Quill. You hate my presence. You want me dead again.”_

“Oh, you’re not that bad, if I should be honest. You’re just pretty grumpy from time to time. I really can’t stand that.” And Ronan wouldn’t stand what Peter was about to say. “But I’d continue to endure you, if I had to.”

_“What are you talking about?”_ Ronan’s lower lip started to tremble.

“The thing with you and Xandar... That you still want to destroy it... I can’t let that happen. So, if you don’t destroy Xandar, or anything else because of your grudge, or me or my friends, I’m going to help you. Only then I’ll make everything to help you to get back your body. But if you don’t promise me that, we have no deal. Don’t even ask about what will happen if you break the promise.”

Ronan’s face darkened. _“Never.”_

Peter shrugged. “Whatever you say, mate. We’ll have a good time together. You and me, spending the rest of our lives together. Or not-life in your case, I guess. You still have time to think about it.” He stood up. “Time to eat!”

 

Knowhere was still looking the same as they have left it. With a little less destruction, Peter noticed. The people had done a good job in repairing the city in the Celestial’s head. Even though Rocket thought it was a bad idea to go there (“We almost blew that thing up the last time!”), Peter had been able to persuade him (“I’m not bailing you out this time if they lock you up!”). But unlike Rocket had thought, apparently noone was remembering them. To work more effectively, the Guardians had decided to work in pairs. Rocket and Drax would buy some fuel (and get poor. Fuel was as expensive here as almost nowhere else), Groot would guard the Milano (Rocket had explain him that he was too small to get out and Rocket would not risk to lose him in such a place), while Gamora and Peter (and Ronan) would visit the Collector (“The Collector of all places! Even I won’t be able to help you to get out of his glass boxes!”).

It appeared to be lunchtime. Most of the guys working to get the Celestial’s... body stuff were sitting around, eating. The streets were even fuller than the last time; it was a good thing Gamora was from such a prominent colour. Peter almost lost her twice, but both times he was able to find her after a little while.

They headed straight to the Collector’s mansion, which looked from the outside as if nothing ever had happened. It was easy to get in, the door was unlocked and unguarded, what was sheer madness in Peter’s eyes. Why would anyone leave their house unguarded among a colony of thugs?

The Collector had cleaned up, all the broken cages and boxes had vanished. Someone who didn’t know it would never have guessed that an Infinity Stone had exploded here some months ago. The only evidence was the fact that the floor they walked through, once filled with strange creatures and plants from all over the universe, was empty.

Ronan looked around curiously. _“That’s quite a collection of nothingness.”_

_Yeah, it was more impressive before the girl blew herself up... But look, there’s something!_ He nodded towards some webs.

_“I’m pretty sure that’s some kind of local spider that once got imported to this place by a traveller,”_ Ronan commented.

They entered the main room where they had met the Collector the last time. It didn’t look so hopeless here. Many cages were empty, but a lot of there were still (or again?) filled with the most different specimen.

“Tivan, where are you?” Gamora shouted into the silence.

Peter could hear nothing, but Ronan nodded. _“He’s coming.”_

Apparently Gamora was able to hear him too, since she said the exact same words shortly after.

_No need to feel stupid, Peter,_ he told himself. _After all you’re just half-Terran, and nothing compared to an enhanced assassin or a Kree accuser._

When the Collector came in sight, Peter wasn’t able to tell if he was angry to see them again or not. Or if that guy felt anything at all.

“Gamora, it’s a pleasure to see you again so soon.” He blew a kiss on her hand. “This time with less company.” He eyed Peter who he didn’t even bother to look at the first time. “And without the intention to vanish again, letting me sit in destruction, this time, I hope.”

“We don’t want to blow up your place again, even we didn’t do it, but your servant.”

“And run away with my property.”

“You didn’t pay us yet, so...” Peter commented.

Gamora interrupted him. “Tivan, we hope for some answers.”

“Ask your questions.”

Gamora looked at Peter. “Do you...?”

“No. You have the honour.”

She took a deep breath. “As you’ve maybe heard, after we left you, Ronan came here, because one of our companions had called him as he intended to fight him. In the end we all left Knowhere, Ronan got the Orb, and headed to destroy Xandar. We followed him with the intention to stop him. And we did. Peter here grabbed the Stone, and it almost blew him up. But since we were able to grab Peter, we shared the energy of the Stone, and we didn’t die, obviously. Peter aimed the power of the Stone at Ronan who exploded.”

“I can see that. And I’ve heard of it.”

“We wanted to know if there are any byeffects if you touch the Stone.”

“Long-term byeffects. We know about the cuts and bruises, and the feeling that you stand outside of time and space.” Peter added.

“I don’t.”

“Well, you didn’t touch the thing directly.”

_“Me neither.”_

_No?_

_“No. I felt the power to do anything.”_

_Well... it might be the same sensation, we just describe it differently._ Or maybe the legendary Star-Lord was better in handling epic stuff.

“I don’t know about any byeffects, as you’d call them, but I have some knowledge about the Infinity Stones, I didn’t share with you the first time,” the Collector said after a moment. “If you can offer me the right payment...”

Of course that guy wanted to get paid. Peter shifted uncomfortably from one leg to the other. Maybe he was still after Groot. That was impossible. Peter was pretty sure, Nova had burned the old sticks Groot had left on their planet. But maybe they were lucky and should get something different for the collection. That was no problem. After all such tasks had been part of his job when he was a Ravager.

“How shall we pay you?” Gamora asked.

The Collectors eyes were still fixed upon Peter. “I want him.”

“Him... what? Me?”

“You can’t have Peter!”

No way!

“I don’t want your friend, Gamora. I want the Kree standing behind him.”


	6. Claim of ownership

_I want the Kree._

Peter wasn’t sure if he had heard right. It couldn’t be. The Collector wasn’t able to see _his_ Ronan, wasn’t it? He had said “I want a Kree”, not “the Kree.” Ronan was in _his_ head, no one else should ever be able to see him.

Slowly he turned his head towards Ronan.

_“How are you able to see me?”_ he asked in a grim voice. His face had darkened. There was no way he’d ever accept the deal, no way he’d ever end up as a trophy in someone’s collection.

_“Don’t talk to him!”_ Peter wanted to shout. But he didn’t. He stayed quiet.

“I, Tanaleer Tivan, am one of the Elders of the Universe. I have knowledge beyond measure.”

_“That doesn’t explain why you’re able to see me!”_ Ronan growled.

“It is of no importance to you.”

“Ronan, let’s go. He won’t tell us anything.” Peter put a hand on Ronan’s chest and started to push him out of the room. He wanted to spend no more minute here.

To Peter’s surprise he was really able to push Ronan out. “I’m able to touch you...” he whispered.

_“It’s a day full of surprises.”_

“We’re going back to the ship...”

Ronan nodded softly, and left the room with him.

Gamora remained in the room with the Collector, surprise in her face.

 

Peter entered the Milano breathlessly after he had sprinted back without a break.

_“Why did we have to flee like cowards, Quill?”_ Ronan asked.

“I don’t know... I panicked. And then I was able to touch you. And I panicked even more.

_“Yes, you were able to touch me...”_ Ronan looked at his hands.

“Don’t worry! I won’t touch you again.” Peter smiled nervously.

_“... Good.”_

They went into the kitchen.

“Oh, hey, Groot.” The tree was sitting in the sink full of water.

“I am Groot”, he answered in his high voice.

“Didn’t we leave you in the cockpit? Doesn’t Rocket get angry when you leave your pot?”

“I am Groot!” Groot complained.

“I won’t tell him that you’re taking a bath.”

“I am Groot.”

Peter opened the cupboard and took a bottle with alcohol out of it.

_“You intend to drink?”_

_“Yeah.”_

_“It’s only midday.”_ Ronan sounded disgusted. Peter didn’t care.

_“I know.”_

_“...”_

“I am Groot?”

“Don’t worry about me, buddy.” He smiled at Groot as he left the kitchen.

 

Peter went to his room to drink alone and to listen to his music in peace. Right now he didn’t care if Ronan followed him (he didn’t), or what that guy did (probably trying to find out if Peter’s the only one who can touch him), he had to cope with the fact that the Collector was able to see Ronan, and claimed ownership over him.

Why did that whole situation disturb him so much? It wasn’t as if he had a deeper relationship with that guy. They only tolerated each other. So what was his problem? He didn’t know. Why did he feel the need to drink because of that? There was no need to.

Peter opened the bottle and drank. Goodness, what the hell had Rocket brought there? It tasted worse than the stuff Yondu’s boys made on the Eclector themselves. He looked at the etiquette. Oh. It was the stuff Peter had brought the last time when he was on shopping duty.... Still, it tasted like a mix of shoe polish, petroleum, and raspberries.

 

As Gamora entered Peter’s room, he was laying on his bed, listening to his music, and staring at the ceiling.

“Peter...?”

He turned his head towards her.

“... Please take off the headphones, we need to talk, and I never know if you’re listening with these things or not.”

Peter sat up, stopped the music and took the headphones off. “Ready to talk.”

“And can you make sure, Ronan’s not here? I don’t want him to listen.”

“He’s not here.”

“Good.” Gamora sat down next to him. “I had quite the talk with the Collector.”

“Oh dear.”

“Nothing to worry about. I just think it’s better to talk to you alone, than to you and Ronan at the same time. Even you panicked earlier.”

“Yes, sorry about that.” He really was. Wasn’t it in his interest to get Ronan out of his head?

“Like I said, I talked to the Collector.”

“What did you have to pay him for that?”

Gamora ignored him. “He didn’t tell me, why he’s able to see Ronan. But he confirmed my hypothesis that Ronan’s just with you, because you both had direct contact with the Infinity Stone. It remembers the people who touched it directly. And somehow, the Collector didn’t know how or why, the Infinity Stone planted a bit of Ronan’s consciousness inside of you. It shouldn’t be able to do that. After all it’s the Power Stone, and not the Mind Stone, but it did it anyway.”

For a moment neither of them said anything.

“... So Ronan’s like a parasite in my head?” Eww. Somehow Peter thought of an angry little, blue worm swimming around in his brain.

“Kind of. Tivan thinks, nothing bad will happen if... Ronan stays in your head, but he wouldn’t recommend it either.”

“He wouldn’t...” Of course not. After all he wanted Ronan in his collection.

“No.”

Again, they both stayed silent.

“When I left, I was able to touch him. He’s able to touch me too”, Peter whispered.

“That _is_ a problem.”

“It is?”

“We’re talking about Ronan, Peter!” Gamora sighed. “He won’t hug you. It’s more likely he will strangle you in your sleep!”

Peter got pale. “I don’t want to die yet!”

“I know. Talk to him.”

Peter felt silent. He didn’t think he was able to convince Ronan not to do anything bad. He scratches his cheek. “I’ll try. Did the Collector say anything how to get Ronan out of my head?”

“No. But you could try to... tease him so much, he becomes even more... real. “

“... Real.”

Gamora shrugged. “Now you can touch him, next time we can see him.”

“Next time when you can see him, he’s free from me, and he’s free to kill me”, Peter sighed.

Gamora put an arm around his shoulders. “We shouldn’t do it. You should arrange to live with him.” She smiled. “Or we fly to some lonely planet, you both leave the ship, we fly away, and you alone follow us, thanks to your jet boots.”

Peter leaned his head against Gamora’s. “Sounds like a plan.”

“You could also kick him out of the ship while we’re somewhere in deep space. Or we do the whole planet thing with many Nova officers around, and they will arrest him right away.”

“And again you’re the most beautiful and most intelligent woman in my life.”

Gamora groaned. “Don’t start with that stuff again.”

“Whaaat? I didn’t! I didn’t do anything!”

She groaned again and stood up abruptly. Peter fell down on his bed. “Talk to Ronan, Peter. And please, stop to drink.”

“I didn’t-“

“Oh, come on! The bottle’s right next to you!”

“...”

“Stop drinking, and look for your Kree.”

_Your Kree._ “He’s not-“

Gamora rolled her eyes and left the room without another word. Peter stared at the empty door.

 

Minutes later he decided to follow half of her advice. He emptied the bottle (it still tasted like hell, but alcohol is alcohol), got up way to fast, and left the room to look for Ronan. He had expected a long search through the whole ship, where he found his Kree pouting in the last room. Instead he left his room, turned around the corner, and fell over Ronan who was sitting on the floor.

“Ouch...” Everything started to spin around.

_“Finally decided to talk to me, Quill?”_

“I think I broke something...”

_“You didn’t. You’re fine.”_

“You’re hard. What are you made of?” Peter made himself sit next to Ronan. His Kree.

_“I’m thinking you’re referring to my muscles.”_

“Yes. Beautiful and trained muscles.”

_“. . .”_ The confused look on Ronan’s face was gold right now. A compliment was the last thing he had expected.

“You’re really beautiful.”

_“... Are you drunk?”_

“Maybe a bit”, Peter admitted. “I’m not that good with alcohol.”

The surprise in Ronan’s face changed into disgust. _“Weak Terran.”_

“Ronan, you’re the most beautiful Kree I’ve ever seen in my life.”

_“You wanted to talk to me.”_

Peter looked directly at Ronan. “Your eyes are even purpler than the rest of you...”

_“... That’s because my eyes are naturally purple...”_

“They are? That’s fascinating. Mine are greenish.” Peter grinned dumbly.

_“... Your eyes have many colours, green is just one of them.”_

“Your lips are beautiful too...”

_“You’re drunk, Quill! Go to sleep!”_

“Would you ever sleep with me?”

Ronan growled deeply. _“We’ll talk when you’re sober!”_ Ronan stood up. He grabbed Peter’s arm and pulled him up too. _“You’re going to bed. Right now!”_

Peter shuddered. Ronan was so hot when he was dominant. “Alright~.”

Ronan growled again, and pushed Peter into his room, and on his bed. _“I don’t want to see you again unless you’re sober.”_

“Goodnight kiss?”

_“I’d rather kiss your furry friend.”_

“Hm. I don’t think Rocket will like that.” Peter covered himself with his blanket. He didn’t even bother with his shoes; he knew he wasn’t able to take them off. There was a little too much alcohol in his blood right now.


	7. I have a plan...

When Peter woke up he wanted to fall asleep again.

But he couldn’t, his head hurt as if Drax had tried to smash it. Stupid alcohol. What had happened last night? He remembered that he had talked to Gamora, that she wanted him to talk to Ronan. Did he do that? He remembered he left his room, but what happened after that? Did he talk to him? Did he do something stupid?

He had a total blackout.

Peter opened his eyes and starred right at Ronan who sat across the room. “Holy shit...” Why was Ronan sitting there? Did he stare at him all the time? Did Ronan watch him while he slept? Totally creepy, no normal person would ever do this!

_“Are you sober?”_

“Uh... Yes. But everything hurts.”

_“Why’s that?”_

“Hangover...” Peter mumbled.

_“What is a hangover?”_

“The effects when you drank too much, and your body isn’t totally fine again. You know.”

_“I don’t know.”_

“You don’t?” Fucking Kree. Immune to the after-effects of alcohol. Or Ronan never had drunk that much. “Did we talk yesterday?”

_“No,”_ Ronan replied. _“We wanted to, but you were too drunk, and you flirted with me.”_

Hell. What? “Sorry for that,” he mumbled. Slowly he sat up. Ouch. “Let’s talk right now. Like serious, adult people.”

_“No. You stink, and you look like a corpse. You’re going to take a shower, you’re going to grab something to eat, and after that we talk.”_

“But-“

_“No but, Peter.”_

“Alright, alright. Can you at least tell me how long I slept?” Peter realized he was still wearing his shoes, so he took them off.

_“Seven hours.”_

Seven hours... He wouldn’t be able to sleep this night again. Peter stood up, and grabbed some fresh clothes. “I doubt that you’ll come with me.”

_“I will wait here.”_

Peter shrugged. “Whatever floats your boat.”

He left his room, and went to the bathroom. Luckily it was empty.

Quickly he checked the image in the mirror. Oh God. He looked horrible.

And Ronan had starred at this face the whole time. Or not. Peter didn’t know. He wasn’t the biggest fan of people watching him, especially when he slept. Once he had sex with a woman whose species slept only once a month. He stayed the night at her place. And the whole night she was lying next to him, starring at him with her big, bottomless brown eyes... Or the whole experience with – of course – Yondu. Yondu who liked to make sure his little Terran dinner didn’t do something stupid. Yondu, trying to make sure the little guy he was training to become a Ravager didn’t run away. Yondu with his camera’s. Peter had learned to manipulate them when he was 12 to get his privacy back.

After a long and hot shower – he really had needed this – and after he brushed his teeth – he had needed that even worse – Peter went back to his room. He decided against grabbing something to eat, he was pretty sure he’d throw up if he came close to food.

Ronan was still in his room, he hadn’t moved a bit. _“I expected you to take more time.”_

“Well, I didn’t eat. Couldn’t eat.” Peter sat down next to Ronan, and leaned his head against the cold wall. “You still want to destroy Xandar?”

_“Yes, I will destroy Xandar.”_

“... You know, I have the responsibility to stop you from doing this.”

_“You don’t.”_

“But we can make a deal.”

_“A deal,”_ Ronan repeated.

“A deal,” Peter confirmed.

_“Why should I make a deal with you?”_

“Why, I’m your only way out of your misery.”

_“No, Quill, you are my misery.”_

“Shut up, I’m talking now. Don’t interrupt me all the time.”

_“. . .”_

“What you want to do is to destroy Xandar, and to avenge Hala. What I want is that you don’t destroy Xandar. Blood vengeance doesn’t work. They killed your families, you kill their families, they kill yours, and it never ends. That’s why there’s the peace treaty, neither Xandar nor Hala want to shed more blood. That doesn’t have to do anything with weakness. Hala doesn’t want you to destroy Xandar, you’d be of much better use for them if you do other things for them. After all you’re the Supreme Accuser. So the thing is I will help you to get your body back. You will not destroy Xandar, but will go back to Hala, and do what they want from you. No teaming up with Thanos. ... I guess he would kill you anyway, since you stole from him...”

While Peter spoke Ronan’s face darkened. _“You forget one thing, Quill. Hala has damned me.”_

“For the public. Probably because they had to make a statement. They didn’t do anything when you were still alive, isn’t it?”

_“They didn’t,”_ Ronan confirmed slowly.

“If Hala doesn’t want you back, well, I think you could become one of us!”

Ronan snorted. _“One of your Guardians of the Galaxy?”_

“Yes! Apologize to Drax for killing his wife and daughter. It will work after some time, I bet!”

_“Quill, you’re a lunatic. Your friends would never accept me.”_

“That’s what you say now. One day when we’re all best buds you will remember this conversation and laugh about today!” Peter smiled.

_“I doubt it. How do I know you won’t sell me out when I’m myself again?”_

“You don’t. You have to trust me.” Peter saw that Ronan wasn’t sure if he could trust him. Peter understood. Ronan was a warrior; he had learned not to trust anyone but his own people. Peter especially had given him no reason to earn his trust. “Tonight we’re going to do the thing.” He had thought about this under the shower. “I have a plan!”

_“Hala help me...”_

“Hey!”

Ronan’s mouth twitched upwards. _“Tell me about your plan, Quill. How do you plan to give me my body back?”_

“Oh,” Peter grinned. “You’re going to hate it. We’re going to Xandar!”

_“No.”_

“Yes! And we’re going to break into the most secure place on the planet, and we’re going to get the Orb.”

_“What...”_

“I figured when the Stone stole your body, and planted your consciousness in my brain, it will realize it did something wrong when you touch it again. Or when I touch it again.”

_“...”_ Ronan started to laugh.

Peter starred at him.

Ronan laughed. The universe was ending.

Peter couldn’t believe it. Did his plan sound that stupid? But hey! Ronan laughed, that was something that didn’t happen every day! Even he laughed about Peter and his wonderful plan.

It would be easy to break in, Peter was a professional thief, and Ronan, well, and Ronan was invisible! It would be easy as pie!

“Ronan, I think you’ve laughed enough... It’s getting creepy.” And he started to feel stupid.

It took Ronan another minute to calm down.

_“We’re going to break into Xandar,”_ he grinned. _“Your plan is so stupid, it has to work.”_

“Wow... Thanks...” That made Peter feel even stupider.

_“When do we start?”_

“Later. We’re going to steal a ship when the others are asleep. Then we’ll fly to Xandar.”

_“You really want to do this?”_ Ronan looked at him curiously. _“Without the help of your friends? Just you and me?”_

“Just the two of us. You and I. You know, I love them all very much, but that’s just a thing between us, they wouldn’t understand.”

_“It doesn’t have to do with the fact that you want to share my bed?”_

“... What? I... No. Why? How? What?” Where did Ronan get this idea from? He’d never... Ok, he would. But still, after his experience with the Kree girl... And Ronan was still Ronan... He was more aggressive, more violent and stronger than any Kree woman could ever be. The whole sexual act with Ronan would probably kill Peter. Not to speak of the things that would follow. In his experience Kree got really possessive and jealous towards their partner. Peter wasn’t ready for such a relationship yet. One day when he was older, and wanted to settle down, and have children, maybe. But not right now. Right now he wanted to experience the whole universe. “I don’t want to share your bed, Ronan,” he assured. “Yes, I would, sure, you’re a hell of a guy, but I’m not sure if I would be ready to face the consequences of having sex with a Kree, sorry.”

Ronan looked at him with a blank face.

What would Peter give to be able to read his mind!

_“I see.”_

You see? You see what? Was it a good thing that Ronan ‘saw’? “A penny for your thoughts,” Peter mumbled.

Ronan blinked in confusion. _“What’s a penny?”_

“Terran money. Means I’d pay you for sharing your thoughts with me, because I have no idea what you’ll do with the information I just gave you.”

_“Parts of the information you gave me already yesterday. And I won’t do anything with this information.”_

“You won’t?”

_“No. We’re still good, as you’d say it.”_

“We’re good?” Were they ever good? That was news to Peter. “Alright.” Something in Peter’s stomach told him that they were not ‘still good’, but Peter was an expert not to listen to anyone, even himself. “You know, now I think my body’s able to eat something.” He smiled and stood up. “I’ll spend the evening with my friends, a last time with people as crazy as me, before I spend the next days with you. And I guess you need some alone time too, before we’re going on our adventure together!”

The legendary Star-Lord and his sidekick Ronan the Accuser! Someone should write a comic about them!

As he had told Ronan, he spent his evening with the other Guardians playing some card games. Rocket won most times, but Peter was sure he and Groot had cheated together. But even a cheating Rocket had his problems playing against Gamora as she had a poker face so good, not even Peter was able look through. And Drax, well, Drax looked always angry or confused, that was some kind of good poker face too. For a moment Peter had considered to ask Ronan to help him to win, but he decided against it. Ronan should enjoy his alone time. And Peter was able to cheat without the help of a Kree who probably never cheated once in his whole life.

After some games they decided to call it a day, they would go to bed now and fly away from Knowhere tomorrow in the morning. They had decided to look for a nice and warm planet with a lot of beaches, cocktails, and girls dressed in little clothes. Of course Peter planned actively, the others should not even think about Peter running away with Ronan.

When Peter went back into his room after he had finished his little ritual in the bathroom (they had only one bathroom on the ship, it could be hell. That’s why they had decided to make a fixed order for the late hours (Gamora – Peter –Rocket/Groot – Drax), open for variations of course, if someone should decide to go to bed earlier or something), he found Ronan sitting on his bed crossed-legged and with closed eyes.

“You’re asleep?” he asked softly.

_“No. I’m focusing.”_

“Oh. Keep doing that.” He needed to grab some stuff he had to take with them to Xandar. You can’t break into something without the proper took. Okay, you can, but that won’t work out. Peter didn’t want to risk that.

 

The first step of his plan worked just out fine, Peter and Ronan were able to get out of the Milano at night when everyone was asleep. If only the rest of the plan was so easy too...!

They took a stroll over to the hangar, looking for a ship they could steal. They needed something fast and small, something one of them was able to fly – that was no problem, Peter had learned how to fly most one and two person ships, going back three generations – but it also had to be big enough for the two of them and had to have a tank big enough not to need a refill. Neither Peter not Ronan was willing to pay for a refill.

Just when they discussed if they should steal an older version of a M-Ship (Ronan voted yes, Peter was against it), Peter saw something and fell in love. It was a white and impressive, but simple ship, so clean there was not the tiniest piece of dirt on it.

He put a hand on Ronan’s arm. “No, not this one. Come with me...” He went to his new found love, and Ronan followed.

_“That one won’t do it,”_ he grinded through his teeth. “ _We would be sneakier if we would go with a second Dark Aster to Xandar.”_

“I don’t care.” Peter started to go around the ship. “Look at this, it’s the newest of the new, I bet. These shapes are perfectly formed to fly both in air and in vacuum. It’s fast, oh, it’s so fast. I bet we’ll be on Xandar in no time,” Peter said and looked at Ronan. “This is the one!”

_“...”_

“Please?”

_“...”_

“Pretty please?”

_“... If something goes wrong, you’re the only one to blame,”_ Ronan growled.

“Yes, I am,” Peter chirped while continuing to check out the ship. “If this ship was a woman...”

_“... You’d marry her right away?”_

“You bet. Now let’s take a closer look...” It all wouldn’t work out if Peter wasn’t able to break into it. He went to the door. It was so smooth and looked so much like the rest of the ship, Peter could only sigh of happiness.

There was no gap he could use his tools with, but after a while of searching he was able to find the emergency switch. Almost every ship had one of those, it was easy to manipulate them in a way they would open the ship manually – after all this was what they were made for.

“Welcome to Star-Lord-Travel! We hope the ship is to your liking!” Peter said as he opened the door full of verve.

_“... We’ll see,”_ Ronan said and stepped in.

Inside everything was as white as the outside, but even more luxurious. And Peter noticed many things were hidden under smooth white leather. The whole ship was the embodiment of luxury. Who would ever leave a ship like this unguarded on Knowhere?

Peter closed the door behind him, looking for the cockpit.

Ronan was already there.

“Only the newest of the new tech here, nice!”

_“I think I know the owner of the ship, Peter,”_ Ronan commented.

“Sure you do. It’s me. At least for now.” They were just borrowing the ship, he totally intended too bring it back. He wouldn’t want anyone to steal his Milano either, borrowing might be okay.

Peter sat down in the pilot’s chair. It felt like sitting on clouds. It wouldn’t surprise Peter if this chair had a massage function.

It had.

Peter didn’t use it. He had to concentrate to get his new ship out of Knowhere – it worked without problems, no one tried to stop them, the ship had no alarm or anything, it was easy to fly.

After they got out into the open space, Peter tried to calculate the flight path. They only needed 17 hours.

“What a fast little ship. I’m almost tempted to keep it.”

_“Why don’t you do that? You’re a thief.”_

“But I still have honour. And as I said, we’re only borrowing the babe.”

_“You’re honourless.”_

“Oh darling, now you’re breaking my heart,” Peter said and got up. “Let’s take a look around and find out if there’s a way to kill the time.”

There were many things to kill the time with. They could play cards (or not, since Ronan wasn’t able to hold them), they could play other games (Peter offered to move the stuff for Ronan, but Ronan wasn’t the playful type of man), they could drink (Ronan told Peter explicit not to!), or they could watch some stuff on the screens (they did that most of the time. Okay, Peter did. Ronan... did some other Ronan stuff).

 

16 ½ hours later Peter sat in the pilot’s chair again, heading straight towards Xandar.

_“Tell me you plan, Peter.”_ Ronan came into the cockpit and stopped behind Peter’s chair.

“We go to Xandar, go where they put the Orb, you touch the Stone, you become normal again, we go back to the others.”

_“... That is your plan.”_

“Yes.”

_“That is no plan at all.”_

“It totally is!”

_“How do we know where they put the Stone?”_

“I already know it.”

_“How do we get there?”_

“We walk.”

_“... How do we get there?”_

“I’m a thief, you’re invisible, it’s no problem!”

Ronan shook his head. _“You’re insane.”_

“Sure, I am. I’m seeing a dead person.”

 

Ronan on Xandar was... interesting. He was nervous as fuck, he was about to jump at every person he saw, and he actually attacked the first Nova officer they passed by. But since he still wasn’t able to touch anything or anyone but Peter, Ronan stopped trying to kill him shortly after.

Peter went straight to the faculty, it was a small building. As Peter knew there was a big maze of halls underground. He didn’t know exactly where to find the Stone, but that should be no problem. He had gotten the blueprints of the building once from a girl of the Nova he had flirted with; he had needed them for a job! His memory was pretty good, they should find the way in no time, Peter thought.

He didn’t.

Ronan and Peter spend four hours in the maze. Peter thought it was hell. Ronan was pretty helpful. Somehow he recognized which hall they had already visited. Without Ronan’s help Peter would never have found his way - without Ronan he would never had been down there! - he would have gotten lost forever, he was sure.

The good thing about the Nova was that the guardsmen were only in the rooms, not in the halls.

“That’s the room,” Peter whispered.

_“Finally,”_ Ronan growled. _“You said you know the way!”_

“I did! I just didn’t know it exactly!”

_“You’re an idiot, Peter Quill!”_

“Yes, I know! But we’re finally here!” Peter activated his helmet. “You’re ready?”

_“Yes.”_

“You still know our plan?”

_“Of course...”_ They had discussed the details in the last hours.

“Alright, go get ‘em, Tiger!” Peter opened the device to deactivate the lock of the door. Rocket was probably able to hack into it, but he had to use his tools. Of course it worked, and the door opened wide.

While the Nova officers inside couldn’t see Peter who stood around the corner, they were able to look at Ronan who stood right at the door – but he was still invisible.

_“Four officers. Two on the right, two on the left. Armed elite. You’re sure you’re able to handle them?”_

_“Hey, I’m the Star-Lord!”_ They assumed it was saver for them if they'd communicate with each other for now without talking. They had done this before, holding a conversation only in Peter's head, in his thoughts. Peter wasn't entirely sure how it worked, how Ronan was only able to hear the thoughts addressed to him directly. But it worked, so did it matter? No.

_“That’s what worries me so much... And it doesn’t mean anything.”_

_“D’aww.”_

_“Two are coming out. Get ready.”_

_“Yes, sir!”_ Peter took his guns, and aimed at the door. He didn’t want to kill the guys, there was no need to. So he just shocked them with electricity as soon as he saw them.

They felt lifelessly on the ground.

_“Pathetic...”_ Ronan commented.

“What the...!” The other two men came to the door. It was easy for Peter to knock them out too. Almost too easy.

_“The Nova are so weak.”_

“Maybe they are.” It was without danger to talk normal again.

_“As soon as I have my body back, I should kill them.”_

“Buuuut you won’t. We have no time for such bloodbath.”

_“It’s no bloodbath if I do it right.”_

Peter entered the room. Ronan already stood at the column they had put the Stone in. _“How do you open this... thing?”_

“Don’t worry, I’m good.” He came to Ronan.

_“I know.”_

Peter looked at Ronan. He knew? Peter grinned. “I’ll take it as a compliment.”

_“I don’t do compliments, there is no point in such. But do as you want.”_

“I do want to open that thing.” Again he took his tools, and stared to work. It was hard, a lot of fiddly work, but he was able to do it.

Ronan’s eyes were fixated on Peter, but he didn’t comment on his work.

It took Peter a while. “It’s done.” He opened the drawer. The Infinity Stone was in it, still in the device Peter and Gamora had put it in.

Peter took the Orb. “Before I open it, I ask you one last time.”

Ronan rolled his eyes. _“On Hala I swear to you, Peter Quill, I will neither destroy Xandar, nor attack any Nova officer, as long as I am with you, or you are alive. I will only defend myself.”_

“And you won’t kill me or my friends.”

_“I also swear this.”_

“And-“

_“No. That’s enough.”_

“Alright.” “They had talked about it. Ronan swore on Hala, the only thing he never wanted to hurt.

Peter took a deep breath. Now they would find out if their trip to Xandar had been pointless or not. He opened the device.

For a moment Ronan looked hungrily at the Stone, before he touched it. There was a big, purple explosion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally something happened


	8. ... But I didn't think it through

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year, everyone!

Something was happening. Ronan was still touching the Stone. There was still an explosion, the same kind of explosion that had happened when Peter had touched the Stone once.

He looked at Ronan. Ronan looked... happy? Peter wasn’t sure, he had never seen Ronan making such a face.

Peter decided that it was enough and closed the device. Immediately the explosion stopped.

They looked at each other. “... You look pretty normal again.”

“I do?”

“Yes. Blue and everything. And your voice isn’t all in my head anymore. I think.”

“You think...”

“Let’s find it out. One of the Nova guys is your size. Take his clothes, and get dressed.”

“What?” Ronan shouted.

Peter put a hand on his mouth. “Quiet! You’re naked! We can’t leave this building naked! They will catch us immediately!”

Ronan growled.

“The Nova have these buckets on their heads. They will never find out that you’re their worst enemy.”

“Every Kree should be their worst enemy...”

“Yes, but you’re the only one who was close to destroy their planet.”

Ronan growled, but went to the pile of Nova officers. “No sane Kree would ever dress as a Nova officer.”

“Better than being naked and without weapons, isn’t it?”

Ronan had found the guy Peter had meant and started to undress him. “My bare hands are enough to kill a thousand Xandarians before they have the chance to come near me.”

Peter’s eyes wandered over Ronan’s back. “A thousand Xandarians won’t be killed by you. Not today or any other day.”

“I could kill you right here and now, and anything I swore would be nullified.”

“You said you won’t kill me.”

“I did.”

... He wouldn’t break his promise, would he? Peter really hoped he wouldn’t.

“Quill, help me get dressed.”

Peter wasn’t sure if he had heard right. Ronan expected him to help him to get dressed? What next? Wipe his ass? That was so not gonna happen!

“Quill, what are you waiting for? Come here!”

“No.”

Slowly Ronan turned around. “No?”

“No. I’m not your slave. Neither I am your servant or anyone else who would help you to get dressed.”

“You...!” Ronan was furious. Not only that Peter had told him who to kill or not, but he had also denied him the most simple life standards. It was unthinkable for a Kree of his rank and name to do these things. It was the work of his Exon monks, but since he had none here, he had to make use of the Terran. Ronan charged at Peter and pressed him against the next wall. “You’re going to get me dressed, or...!”

“Or what?” There was a vicious sparkle in Peter’s green eyes. Green like the sky of Hala. “Or you’re going to kill me? Cool, but you would still be naked.”

And also he would break his vow. He had sworn on Hala itself, that was no vow a Kree like him would ever break. Ronan loosened his grip on Peter.

There were some circumstances when he was allowed to get on the level of a commoner. Ronan decided that his was one of these situations. He got back to the clothes he had sloppily thrown on the floor.

Finally! Ronan got dressed. He had shocked Peter so much when Peter suddenly felt himself pressed against a wall. Ronan was so fast and strong, if he should ever decide to attack Peter for real, Peter would be mud. It was good to know that his Kree honour forbid him to kill Peter...

Peter watched Ronan as he got dressed. It felt unreal that his Kree was a real person again, that other people could talk to him, that other people could see him, that other people could touch him. That Ronan was not naked anymore. No more confused boners (that had only happened once or twice!). But Peter had to admit that Ronan was pretty attractive in clothes too, even it might be better if he wore less blueish stuff. If male Kree wouldn’t wear their war markings all the time, they would totally be number 2 on Peter’s list of the most attractive males in the universe. Number 1 was Peter himself, of course.

Finally Ronan put the helmet on. “I feel funny.”

“You aren’t funny at all, dude. Don’t worry. The funniest thing about you is the pouting.”

Ronan growled.

“Shhh. Nova officers don’t growl. They are quiet.”

“I am quiet if you stop being so annoying.”

“Sure. Let’s leave the building and go back to our ship.”

Without further comment Ronan left the room.

Peter followed him. He didn’t want to lose him! Ronan found his way out easier than Peter ever would.

Again no one crossed their path, what confused Peter massively. What happened on Xandar that there were no guards anywhere? Something couldn’t be right. Was he asleep? No, he wasn’t, you can’t get hurt in a dream, and it had hurt pretty much when Ronan had slammed him against the wall. Peter decided they were just incredibly lucky. That had to be the reason.

 

They weren’t so lucky after they had left the building and were on their way to the hangar. A Nova officer – a real one – stopped them. “Why are you not on guard?” he bellowed.

“I was given order to bring Star-Lord to his ship,” Ronan answered. “Direct order of the Nova Prime.”

Good plan!

“Bullshit! The Star-Lord hadn’t visited the Nova Prime today. What’s your ID, soldier?”

Bad plan!

Ronan punched the Nova officer in the face.

Worse plan!

The guy got knocked out immediately, blue blood on his face.

Fuck!

“Stop standing there. You look like a child before his first fight. Come on, we have to go.” Ronan didn’t wait for Peter to react. He grabbed him, threw him over his shoulder, and started to run.

He hadn’t used full strength to punch the guy, he still broke his nose. Ronan knew this was bad, especially on open street. He didn’t want to get caught and thrown into Xandarian prison, or be dead again. On their way to Xandar Ronan had inspected the ship they had stolen, he wasn’t able to fly it. He also wasn’t able to steal another ship, for he was no thief like Peter. Ronan hated to admit it, but his life and freedom depended on Peter. So he started to run. Backup was already on its way.

“Ronan, let me down!”

“No, I’m faster. And that thing off my head. I can’t see a thing!” How were the Nova able to fight with these helmets on their heads? Why had they been able to win a war while seeing nothing?! What had Peter called it? A bucket? Sounded right to Ronan.

Finally he could feel Peter lift the bucket off his head. What took him so long? Stupid and slow Terran...

“Finally,” he growled.

Ronan hated Peter even more than the Nova. How had a Terran been able to hold and wield an Infinity Stone? He was no warrior, only a thief. He wasn’t even a pure Terran! Why had this disgusting creature been able to kill him, Ronan, strongest of the Kree, who had trained so much that he started to sweat blood, who had killed more people than he could count? Ronan had watched Peter these last weeks to find his weaknesses. Peter was soft, he was sensitive, he was... Ronan wasn’t able to describe it. He was special. Peter was the heart and soul of his little group of friends. Peter was able to make them work together with each other, even Gamora, beloved daughter of Thanos. Ronan had trained her in the past. She had been a strong and proud individual, almost unable to cooperate with others. With Peter on her side she had grown soft. Peter and Gamora were really close, a bit like siblings, a bit like lovers. He had been pretty sure they were actual lovers at first, but after some weeks when Peter had shared the bed of multiple other individuals, he had realized that these two had no sexual relationship. Peter simply had this power to make people like him wherever he went. Mostly he used it to get people to share his bed (Women mostly, but sometimes also men or people who were both or neither). Even Ronan had to admit that he had grown fond of the Terran who was so different from any other person he had ever met. He still hated him, though!

He let Peter down on his own feet again when they reached the ship. As far as he knew, no one was following them, but he didn’t trust his instincts. They were on Xandar after all. “Open the door,” he demanded.

“Get naked first,” Peter replied.

What now? First he had to put on these stupid Nova clothes, and now he had to strip down again? Peter should decide how he wanted him! “There’s no time to do so. Open the door.”

“There’s plenty of time. I’m pretty sure there’s a tracker in the clothes somewhere.”

Peter got a point, Ronan hadn’t considered this. He stripped down to the underwear.

“Yeah, pretty sure you can leave the panties on, nothing should be there.”

“We don’t know that.” It was Nova underwear after all! Ronan took the underpants off. He had no problem with being naked. But he wasn’t too sure about Peter.

The Terran looked pretty awkward. Why? He had seen him naked thousands of times. Or was this a Terran thing? Did a naked person have a special status? Ronan’s knowledge about Terran’s was limited. He might know more than other Kree, because of... his special relationship with Peter, but it was still hard for Ronan to interpret his actions. He did so many pointless things, moved so often for no reason.... Especially Peter’s dancing and singing habits were alien to Ronan. Sometimes he did it when he was emotional, sometimes there seemed to be no reason. But Ronan was sure there was a reason, everything had a reason. Was it religion? The lyrics of Peter’s songs suggested otherwise, except one, a song about some divine being you’d join after your death. One day he would ask Peter about it.

They entered the ship. “I’m going to look if I can find some clothes.” Only to make Peter feel less awkward, even the Terran hadn’t helped him to get dressed before. But Ronan already got tired of the look Peter gave him.

“Might be better, yes,” Peter mumbled and went into the cockpit. He had to get them out of Xandar first, later was enough time to think about the naked Kree. Somehow that guy looked alive (and naked) even better than dead (and naked).

When he sat down in the pilot’s chair, Peter took a deep breath. _Focus, Ronan’s not the first man you’ve seen naked. And this is not the first time you see him naked. Focus, Peter,_ he told himself as he started the engines.

Again no one seemed to care about them. They had an easy and clear start with no troubles or turbulences.

Peter started to calm down when they were in deep space. “It really worked. The Stone resurrected Ronan.” Peter started to laugh. _His_ plan had worked out with no troubles, and now they were on their way back to Knowhere. If someone would have told him that, he’d never have believed it. After all it had only been a 5% plan (go to Xandar, touch the Stone, go back), it was damned to fail.

But now Peter had a different problem. What should he do with Ronan?


	9. The way back

Before he would think about Ronan, Peter decided to contact his friends on the Milano. Bet they must have gone crazy not knowing where he was and where he went. Peter pressed the communication button on the screen in front of him. He entered the Milano’s contact data and waited.

The problem about space was that you’d never know if someone was awake or not. Sure, there was standard time, but many planets didn’t want to use it. It was especially questionable if an independent mining colony like Knowhere used it. If Knowhere didn’t use it, his friends would neither, it was easier to change your sleeping schedule according to a planet than to try to force a planets time into your sleeping schedule.

Surprisingly Peter didn’t have to wait too long before he saw Drax face on the screen in front of him, only two or three minutes.

“Who... Quill, my friend!” The warrior’s face lightened up. “It’s a pleasure to see your hairy face again! We were surprised by your sudden vanish. Gamora was furious. She told you never to come back, or she’d pull off your head!”

“Hey, Draxy. Eh.... I hope she meant it in a metaphorical way.”

“I don’t know about that. She looked pretty serious to me.”

“Oh dear me... Can you do me a favour? Tell the others I’m back in a few days. The ship doesn’t fly so fast anymore, and I was on-“

“You were on Xandar, we know,” Drax nodded. “Rocket has told us.”

“Rocket has... What did he do?” Peter frowned. “No, don’t tell me. Get him, I need to talk to him.”

“As you wish, Quill.” Drax’ face vanished from the screen.

Rocket’s fury snout appeared shortly after. “Hey, Quill. Finally talking to us?”

“What the hell, Rocket! How do you know that I was on Xandar?”

Rocket scratched his head. “Easy, I transplanted a tracking device into you guys some time ago. We’re family, we don’t want to lose each other.”

“Without telling us first?”

“I told Groot. Should have told you too, forgot about it.” Rocket shrugged. “Now my question. Holy shit, Quill! You stole a private ship of the Collector! How did ya do that?”

“I did what?”

“Quill, you’re a better thief than I thought.”

“You doubted me? How did you think I survived Yondu?”

“Luck. Guts. Your pretty ass. That guy likes you.”

“Unbelievable,” Peter mumbled.

“Quill, I’m sorry. How long does it take you to get your ass back to us?”

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “The baby isn’t as fast as it was on the way to Xandar. I don’t know why. It could take us hours, it could take us days.”

“Us? Got yourself a sweet girl?”

“Kinda. I’ll explain later. Need to talk to Gamora. Does she really want to kill me?”

“Nah. Pretty sure she just wants to rip your dick off.”

“Great! It’s not like I need that thing anyway!”

 

Ronan had looked for clothes and had found some, but it appeared there were two problems. First they were not his size, he was a bit too big. Second they were white or other light colours.

Ronan found the later the bigger problem since only Kree priests were allowed by law to wear light clothes. Maybe if he asked Peter if he would wear the light clothes of the ship owner, while Ronan would wear Peter’s darker clothes... But he doubted that Peter would agree. That meant Ronan had to break a Kree law again.

It wouldn’t surprise him if his fellow Accusers would find him, judge him, and strip him off all ranks.

Theoretically it was an emergency situation right now, so he should be allowed to wear light clothes, but still... He decided to wear the darkest clothes he could find.

 

“And now Ronan’s back to normal, and we’re on our way back to Knowhere. What do you think we should do with him?” Peter finished. Rocket had brought Gamora to the screen who he had told everything that had happened.

“I think we should kill him right away. And you too, Peter Quill.”

“What? Why me too?” Peter complained.

“You’re the most- Ronan.”

“What?”

“Gamora,” Ronan’s deep voice answered from behind Peter.

Peter turned around. He hadn‘t heard how Ronan had entered the cockpit. He wore some clothes of the Collector. He had chosen a light gray west with a high collar (and tiger stripes), and white capri pants. “... You look like a stripper.”

“... What?” Ronan, whose eyes were fixated on Gamora a moment ago, looked confused at Peter.

He shrugged. “Just saying.”

“I do not look like such a person.”

“No, you don’t. The clothes do. They just give the vibes off to you,” Peter said quickly. Too late.

Ronan pouted already. “They. Do. Not.”

“No, they don’t.” He looked at the screen. “They don’t, do they?”

“How should I know? You’re the one who visits such establishments, not me.” Well, she was right. “Peter, we’ll talk when you’re back. Don’t do anything stupid.” Her eyes flickered from Peter to Ronan.

“Yes, mom. See you later.”

“Goodbye.” The screen went dark.

“Why do you call her mother?”

“Because she mothers me.” Peter stood up.

“She’s your friend and you do act before you start to think. Of course she mothers you. It’s her female instinct to care for the weak of her family, even she was made into a killer machine.”

“Dude. That thinking is fucked up. Also, I call it spontaneous how I behave.”

“I call that stupid.”

“Tell me one stupid thing I’ve done while you were around.”

“You got drunk and told me that you want to share my bed.”

“I-“

"You were drunk, Quill. I know of the effects alcohol has on people. Drunk people don't lie. Even you. Don't even try to deny it." Ronan crossed his arms.

“... Something you want to do while we’re going back to Knowhere?” Peter asked. He had decided to drop the topic.

“Not sharing your bed.”

Come on! Drop the topic! “We won’t sleep next to each other, we won’t cuddle, we won’t have sex, don’t worry.”

Ronan growled lowly.

“Want to play a game of cards with me?”

“No. I have to get used to my body again. Stay somewhere where I can’t see you.”

“Sure, Captain Grumpy. I’ll stay out of sight. No we time, only you time.”

The first few hours everything was fine. Peter stayed in one room, Ronan in another. But after a while Peter got bored with being alone, so he joined Ronan.

The Kree was training, and told Peter he was allowed to stay if he remained quiet. Peter promised him not to make any noise – he really didn’t! He just watched, it was pretty hot, he thought. Ronan’s body looked exactly as you’d thought it looked, it was a body of a warrior who had trained his whole life. All the exercises he did just showed his body control. It was indescribably beautiful.

Later when he had finished his training, Ronan allowed Peter to play cards with him. Even though Ronan wasn’t happy about it, Peter grabbed some drinks – just for the mood! as he told Ronan. Just for the mood, so Ronan drank a glass too. He was a warrior, no warrior should drink more than one glass at a time. Even there was no way someone would attack him right now, and even he was a Kree who had a natural high alcohol tolerance, he decided to keep it that way. Peter on the other hand was highly affected by the alcohol he had found on the ship. Ronan had told him not to drink it, but of course Peter didn’t listen, he drank it anyway. 1 ½ drinks later Peter fell over, fast asleep.

“...” Ronan sighed deeply. That was already the second time in the last days that Peter was drunk...! He wasn’t sorry for their card game, he was losing anyway, Peter was probably cheating.

Ronan stood up and grabbed Peter's waist. He could let him sleep where he was, but he decided against it. Peter would just complain about everything when he woke up if he let him lay here - without a doubt. He would complain anyway, because of the hangover he would most certainly have.

Ronan brought Peter into the bedroom. It was literally a bedroom, there was only a bed in it, nothing else.

Should he undress him? Maybe he should, at least the shoes. It was unhygienic to be with shoes in a bed. Yes, he would do that. Ronan put Peter on the bed and took off one of his shoes.

On the other hand, everything about Peter was unhygienic, his clothes were always dirty, he was hairy, and he smelled funny (but not unpleasant).

Ronan put the shoe on the floor outside the bedroom.

... Why was he behaving like a more servant towards the Terran?!

Ronan growled.

He took off Peter's second shoe, and threw it to its companion. He started to pout angrily. Peter drove him crazy! It was disgusting!

The Kree decided to undress Peter completely. There was Xandarian blood on Peter's shirt, he was pretty sure Peter wouldn't want to sleep in bloody and dirty clothes.

Ronan's eyes wandered over Peter's body. He had avoided to see Peter naked before. Peter had a pretty well trained body, but he was hairy all over... It would be better to cover him with the furry blanket - hair to hair.

 

He went into the cockpit and checked the engines. They flew slower than on their way to Xandar. Was that on purpose? Did Peter want to spend more time with him? Did Peter want avoid meeting his friends? Or was it the fault of the ship they had stolen? Was the ship of the Collector Peter had fallen in love with not as good as it seemed?

Again Ronan decided to check the software, but again he couldn't find a reason why they flew slower.

Well, it didn't matter. Ronan would find some ways to pass the time. First he had to make some calls.


	10. Something good?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after months of nothing, here's the new chapter

Again Peter woke up without remembering how he got into bed. Better not make that a habit!

Again Peter opened his eyes, and starred at Ronan.

Shit.

Ronan lay on his side, face towards Peter, eyes closed.

It seemed to Peter as if he was asleep.

Peter's eyes wandered down Ronan's body. There was no blanket on him. He was naked. Ronan was sleeping naked next to him. What the hell happened last night?

When he tried to sit up without making a noise, the blanket slide down Peter's body. He looked down.

Well, look at this, he was naked too.

He was naked, Ronan was naked, they were peacefully together in a bed. Okay, what the hell happened? His body didn't feel like he had have sex, but did that mean anything? Since he didn't even feel like he had been drunk last night, it didn't. His ass felt so fresh, that could only mean... Ronan had been on the receiving end?

Only Ronan knew the answer as it seemed.

Without waking him up, Peter crawled out of the bed. His clothes laid next to the door, so he grabbed them, and stumbled away from the bedroom to the kitchen where he got dressed.

"Fuck, Quill. What the hell happened?" he mumbled to himself as he made a small breakfast. There wasn't too much food on the ship, and Ronan would probably want to eat something too. Was Ronan able to cook? Was Ronan even able to make himself a cheese sandwich?

Peter took his sandwich, and went into the cockpit. He wanted to check how long they still had to fly. According to his empty stomach, Peter assumed they had flown something like ten hours.

He wasn't too wrong, they had flown twelve hours. But they still had another three hours to go.

Maybe, only maybe, he should avoid Ronan. Yeah, he would do that. Avoid your problems, and do other stuff to be happy - Peter's formula for success!

Peter noticed a symbol on the screen in front of him. They had gotten a message...? Who knew they were on the ship? He clicked on the symbol, and opened the message. It was send by... he had no idea, he couldn't read the characters. Quickly he let a translation tool scan the message and do its job.

Oh. It was a message for Ronan. So he had sexted with someone after he and Peter had sex? Did that already count as cheating?

There.

Peter read the message. Of course Ronan hadn't sexted with anybody, he had written someone on Hala. Seems like he told the person that he was alive again, and wanted to know if the situation was like the news said. He also wanted to know about his chances to get reintegrated into the Kree society and the Accusers.

They were low.

The other person would do what they could, but Ronan should get comfortable with a life in exile.

In Peter's eyes this letter proofed that Ronan had absolutely no interest in spending another minute with the Guardians. Well. He could have expected this. Why should Ronan wanted to stay with them? They weren't friends, more like enemies living together in a temporal peaceful situation.

There it was again. That tingly feeling in Peter's stomach. Looked like some part of him wanted Ronan to stay.

Except this was not going to happen soon.

 

Peter flew the ship into the Celestials head to land it exactly where he had found it. Ronan was standing behind his chair, wearing the stripper outfit again.

They had successfully avoided to meet and to talk to each other these last few hours.

"Ronan." There was no way around, they had to talk about some things. Ronan would probably flee as soon as they landed, they had to do it before that.

"Peter."

He turned the pilot chair around and faced the Kree. "What had happened last night?" Peter chose the direct way. Direct questions, direct answers.

"The alcohol you had found has a strange effect of your body. One moment you seemed fine, the next you fell over and were asleep. I thought it better to bring you to bed."

Oh. "So we didn't have sex?" Peter blurred out.

Ronan frowned deeply. "No. Why should we? You were unconscious."

"Well, we were both naked... And it wouldn't be the first time that such a thing would happen."

"You were naked, because it's unhygienic to sleep with your clothes."

"Well..."

"Especially when it's the filth you call clothes."

"Hey!" Not nice!

"You should start to control your alcohol consume."

"I try. But it's hard, you know?"

"I do not know."

"Yeah, you don't drink."

"Indeed. How do you feel?"

Peter blinked. "...What?"

"I mean, how do you feel about the fact that we did not mate?"

"Honestly?"

"Yes."

"Relieved," Peter answered. "Drunk sex can be nice, and make everything a bit more steamy, but I prefer to remember the whole thing." Oh, hello tingly stomach feeling. "Especially if it's with someone like you."

"Someone like me. How often do you mate with someone like me?"

Silence.

"Do we have to talk about this now?"

"Yes. I will leave soon, as you might know since you've read my correspondence."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What, Peter!"

"Nothing," he mumbled.

"Peter."

"Ronan."

"You're driving me crazy."

"Sorry, but you're driving me crazy, too. I think it's the hormones. Whenever you're around I feel... I don't know. Somehow I'm happy. I'm happy, even I shouldn't be. You've wanted to destroy Xandar, you've invaded my life, and forced me to do things I would never do freely. Like breaking into Xandar's high security buildings. Way too risky. But... it's fun. I really like talking to you, I like doing stuff with you."

Ronan was pretty sure that Peter was the only person in the whole universe who enjoyed spending time with him. He never had much friends, even when he was young. Before he got into the military school, he was home schooled, his parents didn't allow him to get outside, and play with other children. Later they were no friends, they knew that they had to train for the war, that many of them would die, falling for Hala. Especially in Ronan's case it was special, since everyone knew that he would probably have his father's and grandfather's post one day, that he'd stand above them. They did never dare to come too close to him. And he didn't mind. Every social contact was just a distraction, and Ronan wanted to finish the military school in no time with top marks and skills - and he did. He had always known that he was better than his fellow Kree, now he had the proof. Shortly after he left the military school he got his first ship and his first troops to command. He won his first combats and proofed that he was worthy of inheriting his father's title. He never needed friends or even people to talk to.

And here was Peter. Peter who sincerely liked him regardless of everything that had happened. Peter who thought Ronan's presence was... fun.

Ronan had to swallow. "You shouldn't feel happy when I'm around."

"I know," Peter answered slowly.

"But you are."

"Yes."

They stayed silent for a while, and looked into each other's eyes. Ronan grabbed Peter's face, and pulled him into a deep kiss.


	11. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet you didn't expect this!  
> Yeah, me neither. But I thought yesterday that I should finally finish this fic after almost 2 years of break, and here we are. You finally get to read the final chapter. It's actually not the ending I initially had planned, Rocket would have played a much bitter role in this, but I lost my notes. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ But I really love this version, it's really peaceful, I think.

“No.”

“But-”

“No.”

“But what if-”

“Peter, you’ve heard what Drax said. He said no and he won’t listen to any reason. You know him,” Gamora interrupted.

“But if-”

“Ronan killed Drax’s family. Just imagine yourself in his shoes. Would you want to live with a person who’d killed your mother?”

Peter pressed his lips together and rubbed his temples. “No. No, you’re right. I’ll go and apologize to him.”

He left the kitchen where he and Gamora had been talking. After Peter and Ronan had finished their little adventure in the bedroom of the Collector’s ship, they had safely landed it on Knowhere. They had headed straight to the Milano which left Knowhere as soon as Peter and Ronan were on board. Apparently, the Collector was furious about Peter stealing his ship. When he had turned up with Ronan, Drax had attacked Ronan right away, not waiting for an explanation. Ronan had knocked him straight out, so he slept for the next two hours.

In the meantime, Peter tried to reason with Gamora, Rocket, and Groot to let Ronan stay with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Peter just didn’t want to let Ronan go off on his own again. Maybe it was because the sex with him was so good. But Peter deep in the back of Peter's mind was another explanation: He had fallen for Ronan during the time Ronan had been a ghost in his head. He didn’t tell this the others, though. He didn’t even tell this Ronan, yet. He didn’t need to know. What they had was still too new and too fragile. Feelings would just destroy everything, Peter was sure.

But feelings could only destroy anything, if Drax allowed Ronan to stay on the Milano with the Guardians. Gamora had made this clear from the beginning. Drax was the one who had suffered the most because of Ronan.

Drax was the one to decide his fate. They wouldn’t kill Ronan, though. Not this time. They would either leave him alone on a planet and give the Nova Corps a hint about it, or they would let Ronan stay with the Guardians for the time being.

Ronan had been left in Peter’s bedroom during the time the Guardians had their discussion. Drax had been brought to his own bedroom, door locked. According to the angry scream, he had woken up some minutes ago.

Peter unlocked the door and opened it - and stared right at Drax.

“Quill! Let me out of here! I have to kill Ronan!”

“Yeah. That’s why I’m here. To talk to you about killing Ronan. Let me come in and tell you some things. If you still want to kill him after that, fine. We’ll figure something out.”

Drax frowned. “Come in.”

“Thanks.” Peter closed the door behind him and sat down on the bed, Drax right beside him. 

“So, the thing is,” Peter started, “I don’t think you should kill Ronan. Hear me out first!” Drax had opened his mouth to complain. “A while after we killed him, I started to hear a voice in my head and I freaked out. It took me some time, but eventually, I got the clue that the voice was Ronan. And then he started to manifest a body. I was the only one who could see and hear him. That’s why we came here, to ask the Collector if there was a way to get Ronan out of my head. But I panicked when I was able to touch Ronan for the first time and when the Collector said that he wanted Ronan for his collection. You know, I had him with me for weeks and I didn’t want to miss his company again. I just couldn’t bear it. So I stole the ship and had the dumb plan to go to Xandar and to let Ronan touch the Stone once again. It really worked and Ronan got a new body. We left the Stone back with the Nova and flew back here. I made him promise before I got him to the Stone not to try to destroy Xandar again. He got cast out from Hala. He talked to some other Kree who told him that his chances for reestablishment in their society would be very low. So, yeah, I told him that he could stay with us if he wants to. And he said yes.” Ronan had told Peter in a soft moment after they had finished their lovemaking that he wouldn’t mind staying with him. “But, as much as it pains me to say it, you're a problem. He has killed your family. I understand that you don’t want him to stay with us. I’ve talked to Gamora about that, too. We can’t kill him, I promised him. We’ll just leave him somewhere and tell the Nova Corps.”

During his speech, Drax had looked very closely at Peter. He put a hand on Peter's leg and squeezed it softly. “I know that look in your eyes, Quill. I had it too, once, after I met my Ovette.”

“What?”

“I don’t think Ronan should be the one for your, but your heart tells you differently. You’re part of my new family, I don’t want to be the one responsible for breaking your heart.”

Peter’s eyes widened. Drax thought he was in love with Ronan?

“You’re right. I had my revenge on the old Ronan. This one here is a new Ronan with a new chance in life. There’s a reason for him to be reborn. If the reason is to make you happy and to give you love, then I’m happy myself. But if the reason is to break your fragile little heart, then I will happily destroy him in your name.”

“Wow..." Peter didn't know what to say. For a moment he just looked at Drax, struggling to find words to express what he felt. "Thank you for understanding.”

“Do you need a hug?”

Peter smiled widely. “Actually, yes, a hug would be nice.”

Drax smiled back at him and pulled him into a hug.

Everything would work out fine, Peter was sure. Drax was right. This was a new chance in Ronan’s life. Who hasn't ever wished to start completely anew? And if Peter would be able to make Ronan’s life better by giving him all the love he had to offer, he would gladly do that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading <3


End file.
